"There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot. These essays are the delights and dilemmas of one who cannot" - Aldo Leopold

2009/06/02

Observing barbets...

After confirming to good working condition of the recorder at yesterday's site, today we rotated to another nest site. This one proves to be quite challenging as it is located over 15-m above the ground and the visibility through the bird-watching telescope is quite poor in the fairly dense canopy. Furthermore, we had some difficulties differentiating the male from the female. After spending more than three hours observing them, I finally came up with a few good identification tips.

Male (left) - The blue patch on the neck is larger, and the overall plumage is shininger.Female (right) - Smaller blue patch, and has a dirtier-looking plumage.

While assisting with the bird watching, our boss called me to asked me to keep an eye on this particular individual. Why? Because this is a mother of three newborns, but today our boss saw it pecking at a new hole again at a different location on a Parkia roxburghii tree.

This action certainly intrigued us because this means she is spending a part of her time foraging for food for her babies to make new nests. Is it because she's ready to make another clutch? Or is she just testing out the trees in their territory? We don't know for sure, but it is certainly interesting to keep observations..